Gunman Kills 7 in a Rampage at a Northern California University

Police officials taped off the scene, above, outside Oikos University in Oakland, Calif. It was unclear what the gunman’s motives were.Credit
Jim Wilson/The New York Times

OAKLAND, Calif. — A former student opened fire on students and staff at a religious college here on Monday morning, killing seven people and wounding at least three more, the authorities said.

Shortly after the shootings, the suspect, identified as One L. Goh, 43, of Oakland, was taken into custody outside a Safeway grocery in Alameda, several miles from the scene of the attack. Police said he had turned himself in to a Safeway employee after driving there in a vehicle he had commandeered from one of his victims.

The shooting occurred around 10:30 a.m. at Oikos University, a Christian college affiliated with a Korean-American church, Praise to God Korean Church, and situated in a commercial and industrial area of East Oakland near Oakland International Airport where there are many Korean-American businesses.

Oakland’s police chief, Howard Jordan, said at a news conference on Monday night that Mr. Goh had acted alone and had used a handgun.

“Today’s unprecedented tragedy was shocking and senseless,” said Chief Jordan, who did not offer a motive for the attack.

Mr. Goh had been a nursing student at the college but was not enrolled at the time of the shooting, the university’s founder, Pastor Jong Kim, told The Oakland Tribune.

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An officer enters the school, which is tied to a Korean-American church.Credit
Noah Berger/Associated Press

Jean Quan, the Oakland mayor, appearing at the news conference with the police and a representative of the Korean consulate general, said most of the victims were Korean. Chief Jordan said Mr. Goh is a naturalized American citizen from Korea.

“This is the kind of situation where we need to pull together to support the Korean community in particular,” Mayor Quan said. “I hope we will put our arms around these people and this community.”

The police got the first word of the shootings at 10:33 a.m. and were on the scene in less than 10 minutes, Chief Jordan said.

He described the scene as “very chaotic” and said the killer was believed to have been inside a classroom when he started shooting.

Tashi Wangchuk, 38, a videographer from Richmond, Calif., said he had gone to the college after getting a call from his wife, Dechen, a nursing student at Oikos.

“My wife called and said, in a hushed voice, ‘Call 911. There’s a shooting going on in here,’ ” he said. “She told me someone came in with a gun and started shooting randomly.”

Mr. Wangchuk’s wife, who was crouching inside a classroom with other students, said the gunman had shot through the door of the classroom before leaving, her husband said. On Monday afternoon, she was still inside the university as the police locked down the area around the small college.

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Emergency responders near the scene of a shooting at Oikos University in Oakland.Credit
Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Relatives clustered outside the college, along a grassy median, trying to get word from the authorities about when their children or spouses would be released. What appeared to be four bodies were laid out, under sheets, on the median. The wounded had been taken away in ambulances.

“It’s just a sad day in my city whenever there’s a loss of life,” said Larry Reid, who is the president of the Oakland City Council and represents the district where the shooting occurred. “There are just too many guns in the hands of people who are not afraid to use them.”

Gov. Jerry Brown, a former Oakland mayor, said in a statement: “The tragic loss of life at Oikos University today is shocking and sad. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, their families and friends, and the entire community affected by this senseless act of violence.”

According to the college’s Web site, “Oikos University was launched to provide highest standard education with Christian value and inspiration.” Oikos offers courses in music, nursing, English, Bible studies and other subjects. It caters largely to Korean and Korean-American students.

Deborah Lee, 25, who studies English as a second language at the university, said she was inside a classroom Monday morning. “I heard some gunshots and women screaming: ‘Somebody has a gun — run!’ ” Ms. Lee said.

She said she had heard five or six gunshots. “My teacher yelled, ‘Run, run,’ and we all ran outside.”

Ms. Lee said she had not seen the gunman. “I heard a pop, pop, pop sound and then girls screaming,” she said. Ms. Lee said she believed that the shooting had occurred in the same building as her classroom.

She was frightened, she said, but added, “I’m a Christian, and I believe God protects me.”

Chief Jordan said the department would not release names of victims until next of kin had been notified and further investigations had been conducted.

Malia Wollan reported from Oakland, and Norimitsu Onishi from San Francisco.

A version of this article appears in print on April 3, 2012, on page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Gunman Kills 7 in a Rampage at a Northern California University. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe